Summary The phenomenon of geo-blocking is one of the new challenges of the digital era. Geo-blocking is a modern form of discrimination that differentiates between consumers on the basis of their geographical location. The phenomenon ultimately affects the situation of the citizen concerned and may also constitute an obstacle to the single market. Digital time has put a number of issues to be resolved on the legislator’s table in recent years, one of which is the phenomenon of geo-blocking. Already in 2015, the European Commission led by Juncker (2014–2019) adopted the Digital Single Market (DSM) strategy, which marked the European Union’s (EU) path towards innovation by creating a new digital dimension of the Single Market. In order to achieve the DSM strategy and the digital objectives, a number of legislative acts have been put in place to address the elements of the DSM and exploit the benefits of technological modernisation. The geo-blocking phenomenon is presented in this study, partly in terms of practical aspects and partly with regard to the geo-blocking regulation. The Ursula von der Leyen-led Commission (2019–2024) identifies “a Europe fit for the digital age” among its six priorities. Among the priorities, the “promotion of a European way of life”, must be linked to the digital priorities, as our smart tools and our digital presence are becoming an integral part of our lives – and our common way of life – especially at this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Innovation has also been accelerated by the current exceptional situation, the health emergency caused by COVID-19, forcing us to work remotely, remote contacts and the constant use of our smart tools. The realisation of digital well-being is therefore also an integral part of our lifestyle. In the intersection of digitalisation and development and the promotion of a common European way of life, we can find a single market in which we can experience a significant aspect of our European way of life – the free movements and cross-border transactions – even through our online presence. The internal market is the dimension for the proper functioning of which the Union institutions can adopt a legislative act. In addition, measures taken to remove barriers and remove obstacles are essential for the functioning of the internal market. Joint action against geo-blocking as an internal market barrier will also play a role in creating digital prosperity by promoting the proper functioning of the internal market by promoting e-commerce and electronic content access. The aim of the study on the one hand is to present issues related to geo-blocking in a brief and descriptive manner from the perspective of the social, economic and legal environment linked to the internal market. On the other hand, the study briefly presents the legal environment of geo-blocking in the USA, Russia, China and Japan.
Summary This scientific paper is devoted to the critical analysis of the right to be forgotten after the entry into force of the GDPR, including the analysis of the existing case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereinafter – the CJEU) on the above right, as well as the legislative experience of the EU member States. The main research questions of this paper are as follows: Does the right to be forgotten effectively protects human privacy? What are the main shortcomings of the right to be forgotten in law enforcement practice? How can such shortcomings be corrected in order to improve the effectiveness and practicality of the right to be forgotten? The authors try to find reasonable solutions to the practical issues related to the realization of the right to be forgotten and offer their vision of improving the effectiveness of this right in the European legal practice.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing rapidly. There are technologies available that fulfil several tasks better than humans can and even behave like humans to some extent. Thus, the situation prompts the question whether AI should be granted legal person- and/or agenthood? There have been similar situations in history where the legal status of slaves or indigenous peoples was discussed. Still, in those historical questions, the subjects under study were always natural persons, i.e., they were living beings belonging to the species Homo sapiens. We analyse the situation from moral-ethical and practical perspectives. The final conclusion is that the currently existing AIs are still so far removed from humans that there is simply no need to think seriously about legal person- or agenthood. Doing so would mean imposing obligations on the AI to follow. This, in turn, would mean that certain rights in relation to those obligations would have to be granted as well. By all evidence, this is something that humans are not ready to do yet and might never get that far.
Summary The protection of human privacy is one of the most disputable topics of European human rights law. That is why the judicial practice of the European Supranational Courts is rich in numerous decisions in this area, since human privacy is one of the most violated human rights, especially in the context of the development of digital technologies. Trying to find protection of their rights through institutional mechanisms of human rights (in particular, through the CJEU and the ECtHR), the applicant often finds himself/herself in a more difficult position: he/she becomes even more an object of public discussion. This phenomenon is especially vividly illustrated by the judicial practice of the European Supranational Courts in the field of protection of the right to be forgotten, which will be paid attention to in this research. At the same time, some suggestions will also be put forward to strengthen the effectiveness of protecting the confidentiality of applicants in the judicial decisions of the Courts.
Summary This article is devoted to determining the role and place of the EU in the international information space, as well as identifying problematic aspects and existing challenges that the EU faces in implementing its digital strategy in the field of data governance and protection. In the context of the growing influence of such key political figures as, for example, the USA and China, which have dominant influence on the digital economy, the issue of proper ensuring the digital sovereignty of the EU in the field of global data governance comes to the fore. This is due to the fact that it is the digital sovereignty that should guarantee the strategic autonomy of the EU in the digital world in the context of the EU’s increasing dependence on foreign technologies and services and a shortage of investments in the digital sector. In this research, the authors focus on the need to develop and use a model of multilateral participation in the field of data governance and protection in the digital world, which, in turn, implies prevention of weakening the role of the state in regulating the digital market, since it is the states (including the EU) that are the primary guarantors of human rights protection in the digital world.
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